Frequency and cost of social engineering attacks skyrocket, as human error continues to play a significant role in breaches across all industries.
Verizon Business today released the results of its 16th annual Data Breach Investigations Report (2023 DBIR), which analyzed 16,312 security incidents and 5,199 breaches.
Chief among its findings is the soaring cost of ransomware – the median cost per ransomware more than doubled over the past two years to US$26,000, with 95% of incidents that experienced a loss costing between $1 and $2.25 million.
This rise in cost coincides with a dramatic rise in frequency over the past couple of years when the number of ransomware attacks was greater than the previous five years combined, accounting for one out of every four breaches.
Other key findings:
- Pretexting (Business Email Compromise) has more than doubled since the previous year.
- The human element is involved in 3 out of 4 breaches.
- Analysis of the Log4j incident illustrates the scale of the incident and the effectiveness of the coordinated response.
For more facts and figures in a nutshell, refer tot his infographic.
